Kodomo No Jikan Period 12 (As Guest Written by KEY’s Own Jun Maeda)

Are you about ready for Kodomo No Jikan to turn into Kanon for about a chapter or so?  Well get ready then, because as soon as you click the “more button” there’s no turning back.

Summary: We start with Aki teasing Reiji about his suit as he’s getting ready to take Rin to school, and they share a laugh as Aki showcases she has caught the KEY virus by coughing (Now if Sugita Tomokazu is Yuuichi and Reiji as well, is Shiori’s VA going to be doing Aki in the anime version of Kodomo No Jikan, only time will tell if a pattern is drawn or not).  Actually, when Aki gets her test results back from the doctor, it’s not the nondescript KEY virus, but Stage 2 cancer, the inoperable kind.  Aki is stunned as she doesn’t want to leave Rin motherless and wants for Reiji to continue to be happy.  Meanwhile, while having sex (Yes there’s incest), Reiji asks Aki if they should stop since she still seems sick, and when asked by him what’s wrong, Aki lies and says she has Pneumonia (If you wanted him to feel more comfortable you wouldn’t have chosen something just as potentially life threatening as Cancer).

There’s a montage of Reiji playing with Rin, and then in the hospital bed (Reiji eventually found out), Aki says the cost to keep her alive for another 6 months would be the same as the cost to support Rin for 3 years, and to use the money for Rin instead.  Reiji says not to worry about the money and that he’ll pay for the treatments with everything he earns.  However, the cancer is progressing faster than expected since the drugs are having the opposite effect that was intended (Her body is rejecting them, which is draining her strength even faster).  On the street Rin asks if her mom is going to die (this is really depressing), and Reiji says she won’t die (USO DA!).  Rin starts folding paper cranes every day, because she believes if she folds 1000 her mother will live, and Aki prays to live long enough just to see Rin go to Elementary School (Swearing Maeda’s guest writing).

Key Ending.  The Possessed Look On Rin’s Face Coupled With The Apologetic Note By Aki As If She’s Let Rin Down Really Sells This Pages Intensity.  Rarely Do I See The Sad Crushing Emotions Of Witnessing The Death Of A Loved One Brought To Life So Well On A Still Page

After Aki’s death we leave Reiji’s memories and the present day Rin asks him if she looks cute in her outfit today.  Reiji says she’d look cute no matter what she wore, and in his mind is thankful that the only thing Aki left him happened to be a “lovely daughter to call his own” and that if anyone ever dares hurt her, he’ll make them pay dearly.

At the parent/teacher meeting Rin rushes up to Aoki asking if he missed her, and a glare from Reiji makes him push her back, stumbling and providing a panty shot (Happy, to soul crushingly depressing to happy again in less than 20 pages.  New Record me thinks).  Aoki talks to Reiji about how Rin is a good student, but sometimes displays inappropriate behaviours, which Reiji quips back is probably Aoki’s fault for not being a good teacher (This is probably the second reason they chose Sugita Tomokazu for Anime Reiji, nobody does smug, sarcastic, make your skin crawl, late teen/early 20’s lolicon’s like Sugita Tomokazu).  Rin demands that Reiji stop picking on her beloved sensei.  Reiji immediately tows the line and apologizes (Rin’s the dominant one), but in the staff room Aoki is furious with the parents he keeps meeting who blame him soley for the childrens problems, without taking any look at their own parenting skills.

Outside the School, Reiji is telling Rin not to get to attached to Aoki, because he’s had adults betray him before (Yeah that’s the way to parent Reiji, turn her into the bitter, sarcastic, distrusting person that you became.  Way to parent.  Now I’m convinced that Sugita Tomokazu was in fact the right choice for Reiji).  Rin just teases Reiji and implies he’s jealous.

Thoughts:  While I can’t really blame Reiji for being so fucked up after his crappy childhood and losing Aki, I don’t condone his trying to turn Rin into the person he’s become.  We see some pretty sad scenes this time around that are done as good as I’ve seen death sequences done in any manga, and I find it interesting that Rin has coped far better than Reiji has, and it was her own mother that died too.  This implies that Rin is far stronger emotionally and psychologically than Reiji, and I wonder if we’ll continue to see this contrast in personalities and idealogies about life play out over the next few chapters.  I feel a bit sorry for Aoki now, for one, because he’s getting such flak from the parents and two, he’s got a potentially unstable, overprotective guardian with nothing to lose but Rin on his back, and the only thing keeping the detente between the two is Rin herself.  I think she’s more than up to the challenge though.

Rating: Nine And A Half Out Of Ten